Ladder



F. M. DE SAUSSURE, IR;

LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 2I, I919.

Patented D00. 27, 1921.

2 8HEIITSSHEET I anuewtoi fitter Mu O II LIIIIIIIIII llc L I I I I I IIEN. DE SAUSSURE, JR. LADDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 21.1919- 7 1,401,526, Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK DE SAUSSURE, JR., OF GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

ToaZZ whom z't may concern Be it known that LFRANK M; onsAos SURE, J r.,a citizen of the United States, and

into small compass for storage or transport and withal presenting thatit is extremely strong irrespectiveof its weight and material ofwhichjit is made.

Another ob'ectis to provide a ladder as characterized with means forrendering it 25 y y y which will be rendered secure and safe rigid andsafe when in use. d 1

Another object is to provide such a ladder with meansfor looking it inopen or closed condition. 1

Another object is to provide a ladder that may be used on an uneven.surface and against accidental collapse when so used.

"With these and other objects in view, my invention conslstsm certainnovel features of constructlon, arrangement'and combination of parts aswill be hereinafter fully described andpointed out in the claims,reference being had tothe accompanying draw-C in s forming a parthereof, in whichigure 1 is a front elevation of the ladder f as in use,i

der and tion.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the rungs, a

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a locking device used, a y d Fig.4 isavertical section showing lad parts in folded or collapsed condi- Fig.5is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation showing a locking detail,

Fig. 6 is aifrontelevation of the detail shown in Fig. 5,

Fig.7 is a fragmentary front elevation showing locking detail whenladderis collapsed. i a

Fig. 8 is atransverse section through rails when collapsed, and at thepoint where upper locking means is applied.

While my improvements are sus eptible of expression in a variety offorms, I have selected as apractical embodiment the in- LADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 27, 1921. Applicationfiled Mai-ch 21, 1919. Serial No. 284,049.

strumentalities disclosed in the drawings annexed hereto, the claimsdefining the scope of the invention.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, l0 and 11 designate the twoside rails of the ladder, said rails being counterparts of each other,but reversed as to each other. The upper end of rail 10 is solid andpresents a block like formation 10 which has a beveled shoulder 10 atthe lower end of the block, while the rail 11 has the block likeformation 11? at its lower end, the upper end of the block beingprovided with the beveled shoulder il the bevel. being the reverse ofthat of shoulder 10. It will thus be seen that each rail has a.relatively narrow body portion with one wide end.

The lower end of the narrow portion of rail 10 is beveled as shown at10?, the bevel corresponding to the bevel 11 while the upper end ofnarrow portion of rail 11 is beveled as at 11, the bevel correspondingto bevel shoulder 10*;

with a series of curved recesses 12 corresponding in number to thenumber of. rungs to be used inthe makeup of the ladder, each of therecesses having inclined floors l3; therecesses on one rail have theirdeeper ends atthe bottom, while the recesses of the opposite rail havetheir deepest ends at the top of the recesses.

By this construction when the side rails are folded together, as in Fig.4, the recesses with thereversely inclined floors come together and formchambers of uniform transverse form and area, in which will be housedthe rungs 14. which will occupy an oblique position with respect tothe'side rails.

The rungs 14, any number of which may be usedQcomprise round bars madeusually of wood, provided at each end with a metal thimble or ferrule 15tightly fitted thereon, and through the thimbles and the inclosed endsof the wood rungs, holes 16 are drilled, the holes passing horizontallyand entirely throughthe rungs and the thimble. The thimbles are thenplaced in the recesses of the side rails abutting the shoulders 17formed by the enlarged ends of the inclined recesses; they are thenpivotally held at these points by rivets or pins 18 passed through theside rails. thimbles and rings.

On the front face of the block end of rail 11 a keeper is secured, saidkeeper consist" The inner faces of the narrow portions of the respectivereds are provided offset feet l9 at each end, which are secured to therail causing the body portion of the keeper to setout forwardly from theface of the rail. The body portion has an elongated slot 20, in which isslidably mounted a headed bolt- 21 on which is pivotally 'mountedbetween. the keeper and a. winged nut 22 on the bolt, one end of bracebar 23 which extends obliquely across to the side rail 10 where theopposite end of said brace bar is riveted as at 24 to a small plate 25secured to the face of rail 10 at about the level of the lowermost rung.The slotted keeperwith the brace bar constitutes a look by means ofwhich the ladder can be locked ineither folded or open position bysimply tightening the wing nut 22, or at any point between completelyclosed or-open position of the rails 10 and 11.

A subsidiary locking means is provided for the upper partof the ladder,and is applied adjacent the end of one of the upper rungs of the ladderas indicated in Fig. 1. This locking means includes a semi-cylindricalplate 25 -fittingaround the side rail 10 and having an opening 26through one edge andthrough which passes one end of a rung. f

j The semi-cylindricafplate is also proadded with parallel horizontalslots 27 :throughwhich pass stop pins 28 projecting from side raillO asclearly shown in Figs.

l-ando8. The relative arrangement of the opening or mouth 26 and theslots 27 is such that the inner end of such opening extends between thesaid slots and well within the ends of the same, and thestop pins are sopositioned that the plate may be turned in either direction sufficientlyto permit its engagem ent with, or disengagement from the respectiveladder rung. I

-When the ladder is closed the plate 25 is turned to the extreme right;when it is desiredto open the ladder the sleeve is turned to the left;the ladder is then opened by swinging rail 10 to the left anddownv'ardly, until the rungs are in proper position, and then the plateis turned or shd to the right, which operation then locks the ladder inopen position, so that it cannot accidentally fold up or collapse.

The lock at the lower end of the ladder also locks the ladder in eitheropen or folded condition or any intermediate posi tion. and if theladder is used on an uneven surface this look will be found completelyefficient in looking the parts together against accidentalcollapse,reven though the lower ends of he. a l are no n the pivotspassed through the ferrulcd ends of the side rails From the above, itwill be seen that I provide a light, strong and eflicient ladder, thatcan be readily set up and also collapsed for storage or transport andwhich will occupy but very limited space when not in active use, andthat the ladder can be cheaply manufactured.

I claim 1. In a folding ladder: in combination, side rails havingchanneled inner opposing faces, rungs pivotally mounted at their ends insaid channels, and locking means attached to the side rails for holdingthe ladder rigid in open, closed or every intermediate position, saidmeans comprising a slideway mounted on one side rail, an obliquelydisposed bar pivotally connected at one end to theopposite side rail, aclamp member carried at the opposite end of said bar, whereby it may berigidly clamped to the slideway at its extreme limits or everyintermediate point.

2. A ladder comprising a pair of side rails, having recessed inneropposing faces, rungs pivotally mounted in said recesses, and lockingmeans for holding the ladder open or closed, said means including aslotted offset keeper carried by one side rail, an obliquely disposedbar having one end slidably mounted in the slot of said keeper, and itsopposite end pivot-ally secured to the other side rail, and meanscarried by the sliding end for locking said end of said bar at everypoint in said slot.

3. A folding ladder as herein characterized, comprising a pair of siderails pro vided with grooves in the opposing inner faces, rungspivotally mounted at their ends in said grooves, and a semi-cylindricalplate rotatably mounted on one of said side rails. and provided with ahorizontal mouth in one edge to receive one end of a rung andcooperating stop means associated with the plate and .rail to limitrotary movement of the sleeve in either direction.

4. A folding ladder as defined in claim 3, in which said cooperatingstop means consist of parallel elongated slots in the curved wall ofsaid plate and stop pins carried by said side rail and projec ing intosaid parallel slots.

